Duncan knew from the start that the Goat Head was a dangerous character. Its danger didn’t just come from being an unknown entity, but also from the fact that it had once served the real Captain Duncan and still operated under the old rules and mindset. To the Goat Head, the city-states on land were meaningless, the mortals within them were foolish and laughable, and the weak fleets of the city-states were merely food. Plundering and hunting them was simply the "daily routine" of the Lost Home.
Duncan wasn’t sure how long it would take to adjust the Goat Head's way of thinking, but he understood that this process needed to be subtle. The best way to change the way he and the Lost Home operated was to use some reasonable arguments.
He took one last look at the Goat Head, which was quietly waiting at the navigation table, confirming that it had taken over the sails and steering system of the Lost Home before stepping into his cabin.
This afternoon, Nina would return to the antique shop, and before that, he needed to have the pigeon Ai Yi complete more test items.
As the door to the captain's quarters closed, the Goat Head quietly stared at the door in the dim light, remaining silent for an unknown period until it confirmed that the captain's consciousness had begun its journey into the spirit world. It then murmured to itself, "Really not affected by subspace..."
In the darkness, the wooden Goat Head turned creakily, as if surveying the room, or perhaps its gaze penetrated the room, looking over the entire ship.
"Lost Home, oh Lost Home... What terrible thing did you bring up back in the day..."
Duncan had returned to that familiar dark space, feeling his will extend between countless stars and faint lines, with the endpoints being the Lost Home and the antique shop in the city-state of Prand.
As this "dual connection" time lengthened, the feeling became clearer. He didn’t even need to concentrate hard to sense what was happening at the antique shop—he could even control the body there for some simple daily activities.
This was clearly a good thing. An antique shop owner who spent more than half their time "sleeping" in the shop was certainly suspicious. Even if that body just got up to move around for a minute or two at the door, it could dispel many unnecessary eyes.
Duncan didn’t immediately transmit his main consciousness to the city-state of Prand but paused in the dark space, carefully sensing the changes around him before looking beside him.
In the vast darkness, Ai Yi, in its pigeon form, was silently circling, its ghostly body leaving behind tiny green sparks as it flew. In the center of Ai Yi's circling area were some vague shadows.
Among those shadows were the sun amulet brought to the Lost Home, an old short dagger, a piece of cheese, a round cannonball, and a hard dried salted fish.
These were all "test items" he had prepared before setting out to further test Ai Yi's ability to carry items and any changes during the process.
The short dagger was found in the cabin and likely belonged to some sailor; it was an "ordinary item" without consciousness. The cheese came from the kitchen and had the property of not spoiling. The cannonball was from the armory, and the salted fish was one of the catches from the last fishing trip, which had just been dried—though it wasn’t completely dry yet, it was already quite hard.
Duncan watched Ai Yi circling around these shadows and nodded slightly, "So this is how you carry items each time."
Ai Yi flapped its wings, making a hoarse, sharp cry, "Hold steady, hold steady!"
Duncan smiled and focused his mind, preparing to project his main consciousness.
But just as he concentrated, he suddenly saw a strange glimmer at the end of the light stream pointing towards the city-state of Prand!
Duncan immediately stopped, surprised as he looked at the light that began to flicker among the countless dim stars. It seemed that the light had always been there, only becoming bright the moment he focused, as if it had suddenly been noticed, starting to emit a clear sense of presence.
What was that?
In confusion, Duncan tried to approach the glimmer, and with just a thought, he crossed the vast darkness. The glimmer rapidly expanded in front of him and transformed into a flowing light stream.
He then realized that there was a barely noticeable "connection" between this flowing light and himself—just like the connection between his body on the Lost Home and the spare body in the antique shop.
Was this... another potential spare body?
Duncan couldn't help but entertain this thought, but quickly shook his head. The flowing light before him was far larger than those light points representing "bodies." Such a vast area of light... it was more like a large object that had established a connection with him.
After hesitating, he made up his mind and cautiously reached out to touch the light...
In the next second, a vast and unfamiliar "sensation" suddenly surged into his mind. He couldn’t see the surrounding objects but felt the sea breeze brushing against his body, sensed the waves gently undulating around him, and felt many people moving about him, even walking on his body. He heard voices from all directions, but all the sounds were mixed together, as if behind a thick curtain, completely unclear.
He vaguely realized that he was perceiving the environment through the perspective of a massive object, but this object was not suitable for his spirit to directly descend upon, or perhaps some force was protecting it, blocking his power from intruding. As a result, all his perceptions were delayed and obscured.
This massive object seemed to be resting on the sea close to land, with many people gathering there.
A tense and serious atmosphere filled the crowd; they seemed to be dealing with some dangerous situation seriously, and every conversation was low and concise.
Duncan concentrated hard, trying to make out what these voices, seemingly separated by a thick curtain, were discussing.
After much effort, he finally caught a word that was repeatedly mentioned among the buzzing and overlapping voices—"White Oak."
Duncan pulled back his hand from the light stream, staring in shock at the floating glimmer before him.
The glimmer floated in the darkness, vaguely revealing the shadow of a ship.
White Oak... that name seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember when he had heard it.
Duncan thought hard, finally dredging up some shallow impressions from the depths of his memory. He recalled the ship he had collided with in the spirit world when he first took the helm, remembering that when the Lost Home passed through it, he seemed to have seen its name on one side of the ship... that ship was called White Oak.
Then he remembered the newspaper he had bought in the city-state of Prand, which had a small section mentioning that the long-lost ocean vessel White Oak would soon be docking...
Duncan stared blankly at the floating glimmer before him.
This was the White Oak, the ship that had been responsible for escorting anomaly 099.
It seemed that the old captain who had tried to speak to him and his crew had finally arrived in the city-state of Prand—this was indeed something to be happy about.
Clearly, he had established a connection with this ship.
Could the connection have been formed after that "spirit world collision" incident? Because at that time, the flames of the Lost Home had spread to the White Oak?
Duncan felt a vague guess rising in his mind, considering the various attributes of his spirit flame, while also thinking about whether the connection between him and this steamship could be of any use.
After drifting on the Lost Home for so long, he valued every bit of connection he had with the civilized world.
Now it seemed that although the White Oak had docked, it was still under some kind of lockdown or surveillance. Those tense individuals were likely the "professionals" specifically dealing with extraordinary phenomena from the city-state.
Clearly, to the people in the city-state, a ship that had once been lost at sea posed a danger, and its previous close encounter with the Lost Home might also be a significant matter under review.
Duncan was somewhat aware of his and the Lost Home's notorious reputation.
After considering it, Duncan cautiously stepped back, not wanting to touch the light mist before him again.
As the top boss on the boundless sea, he didn’t intend to deal with the protectors of the city-state. Moreover, without knowing the backgrounds of those "extraordinary experts," he didn’t want to expose the fact that the White Oak had already established a connection with "Captain Duncan."
He certainly didn’t want anyone to discover and eliminate the connection he had with this steamship—after all, the connection was already established, as solid as an anchor chain beneath the sea. He could afford to wait patiently; the surveillance of the White Oak would eventually be lifted.
By then, perhaps he could calmly chat with that old captain, asking what he had been shouting during the stormy weather back then.
(End of Chapter)